Tenchi Universe - Volume 1 - On Earth I

Starring:Japanimation
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The first broadcast series may be the silliest--and funniest--entry in the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. The first four episodes set up the familiar situation of six women from outer space living at the Masaki family shrine in previously peaceful rural Japan.

In this version, the outrageous space pirate Ryoko arrives first, hotly pursued by bubble-brained Galactic Police Officer Mihoshi. After their ships crash in a nearby lake, Mihoshi sends out an SOS that reaches Jurai Princess Ayeka, who goes to investigate, followed by her little sister, Sasami. When Tenchi's grandfather explains that the shrine was built 700 years ago to imprison a goblin, Ryoko can't resist investigating. She and Ayeka get into yet another brawl over Tenchi and inadvertently release the goblin, who turns out to be the eccentric scientific genius Wasshu. She gleefully adds to the complications and, as Tenchi says in a rare understatement, life is soon "like a carnival."

The artists play the story for laughs and deliver. After the grimly serious battles in so many mecha films, it's a hilarious change to see an attack robot slip on a soda can, fall, and flail about like a turtle on its back.

Amazon.com

The first broadcast series may be the silliest--and funniest--entry in the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. The first four episodes set up the familiar situation of six women from outer space living at the Masaki family shrine in previously peaceful rural Japan.

Rated for ages 13 and up, but suitable for slightly younger viewers; some sexual innuendoes. --Charles Solomon

Description

Episode 1: No Need for Discussions! Episode 2: No Need for a Princess! Episode 3: No Need for Worries! Episode 4: No Need for Monsters!

Customer Reviews:

I really LOVE Tenchi!!.......2004-07-17

Tenchi Muyo is one one BEST anime series that I have ever seen. I've seen all three series: Tenchi Muyo, Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo. Although a lot of people hated Tenchi in Tokyo, I, on the other hand, didn't. I've seen the first Tenchi movie, Tenchi Muyo in Love, and I absolutely loved it.

The first DVD of the first TV series..........2004-06-19

Tenchi Universe is 26 episodes, starting with the first four on this DVD. This DVD is important because it does bring in most of the major characters that will be starring within the series itself. We first meet Tenchi walking along in his school uniform. Seconds later there is a explosion as a spaceship crashes. He finds the blue haired Ryoko, who is drunk, and claims she is being chased by a space pirate. That's when the powered suit pops up and starts blasting. We later learn that this is Galaxy Police Detective Mihoshi and Ryoko is in fact the space pirate. Let me add that the powered armour suit looks VERY cool, but doesn't do well against wooden swords.
Things become calmer after Ryoko refuses to allow Mihoshi to arrest her. Mihosho sends off a SOS and soon Princess Ayeka arrives. She and Ryoko have bad blood between them, get into a space battle with their ships and both ships end up damaged which makes Mihoshi cry. But soon Princess Sasami shows up to save them all. And her ship is wrecked also. Mihoshi cries.
Now that they are all trapped on Earth, they all decide to help with the chores; Sasami cooks, Ayeka and Mihoshi do house work and Ryoko goofs off. After learning about the monster in the shrine, from Grandfather Katsuhito, the gang end up releasing Washu. Well, it's Ryoko's fault but let's not point fingers.
The first DVD is funny, allows us to get a good idea about the characters and really hooks you into the whole TV series.

Excellent series.......2004-04-01

INTRODUCTION:
Although the Tenchi Muyo anime series became a massive hit in its native Japan and other neighboring nations, it was never fortunate enough to gain that kind of success in the United States. That's a real shame, because this is one of the best anime series out there. It DID air briefly in America on the Cartoon Network, but it never really won the audiences over the way series like Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z did. But this series is every bit as good as the animes that DID achieve fame in America. Read on for my review of this set.

BASIC PLOT:
It's hard to describe this series because there are so many twists and turns in the plot, but I'll try my best. The story follows a young man named Tenchi Masaki, who has just returned to school from a long break. Soon enough, he meets up with a rather strange cast of characters, and discovers that he may be the last hope for saving the universe! To make things even more difficult for him, many of these strange characters he has met fall in love with him, and this creates some competition amongst them that results in some rather comical scenes.

SERIES OPINIONS:
Why is this series so underrated in America? This is one of the best animes out there. It combines the samurai-style action of Dragon Ball Z with the romance/slapstick humor stylings of Sailor Moon, and this creates a series that is universally appealing. And believe me, over time this series will grow on you.

THE DUB:
Surprisingly, the dub version of this series isn't that bad. A few scenes have been mistranslated or toned down for American audiences, but it's nothing major like with other animes. Here's a little tip, if you're curious about what has been changed - while you're watching the Japanese subtitled version of the DVD, hit the Audio button on your DVD remote and switch to the dub track. This way you can watch the English dub with the English subtitles for the Japanese version - there's no better way to see how different some of the translations are!

DVD:
Once again, DVDs featuring an uncut dub and an uncut sub have been released. This is great because you get both versions of the series. There are also some bonus features as well. There aren't a whole lot of bonuses, but at least there are some - a number of anime DVDs don't have any at all!

OVERALL:
Overall this is an excellent DVD set, and it's good to have all the episodes of this classic series on DVD at long last. Still, the DVDs could have been done a little better. If you're an anime fan, this is a strongly recommended release.

Excellent series.......2004-04-01

Enter the Tenchi Remix.......2002-03-24

There is a moment early in the first episodes of "Tenchi Universe" that is the key to understanding what drives "Tenchi Muyo!" in just about all its incarnations. The hero, Tenchi Misaki, and the space pirate Ryoko, are cornered on the edge of a cliff by a battle-mecha. All seems lost. Then the robot slips on a discarded soda can, flips over, and goes plummeting into the ravine below.

This is a very funny scene. In fact, it is even funnier the second time around, because by that time we have learned Ryoko can fly, project energy blasts, throw up force fields and do all kinds of other things that show up her crying out and cowering behind Tenchi to be thoroughly ridiculous.

"Tenchi Muyo!" (meaning "No Need for Tenchi!") in all its forms is about two things: behavior and defeated expectations. It is not about plotting, per se; none of the Tenchi TV series or movies are terribly thick with plot. They are basically about characters with Dickensian attributes -- Ryoko the pirate is greedy and lazy; Aeka the princess, haughty and self-important; Mihoshi the incompetent cop, good-natured and vacuous; and so on. But all of them do care about Tenchi, their somewhat gormless benefactor on earth, and the show is more or less about how their different forms of caring collide.

Seeing any of the other Tenchi series or OAVs is not critical, but it's useful for the sake of contrast. Like "Tenchi in Tokyo," "Tenchi Universe" takes the same basic characters and shuffles the situations around slightly to produce a different storyline. In the original OAV, Ryoko was the "demon" imprisoned in the Masaki family shrine; in this story, it's *Washu* -- but the changes are interesting and usually lead to developments that we might not have expected otherwise.

"Tenchi" is basically slapstick situational humor, but with some slightly somber touches. I always found it interesting that the one remotely sane person in the whole gang is Sasami, Aeka's baby sister, who runs around and keeps everyone else sane while they're all operating at cross-purposes anyway. She is also like Tenchi in that she sees some good in everyone -- even in a pathological liar, criminal, and con artist like Ryoko, which is saying something. In the same way, Tenchi finds it hard to actually tell Ryoko to just get lost -- she may be bad but she's got real emotions under her flirting and bluffing, and it comes out in the oddest ways.

As with other "Tenchi" stories, right from the start Ryoko and Aeka can't stand each other. In "Universe" this is set up through an amusing device where each of them relates an anecdote from childhood -- although both of them tell it completely differently, and it's probably a matter of speculation who's lying. (My money is on Ryoko, but that's only because she's a liar consistently, and not because Aeka is much better.) But the two of them are also shown as being in agreement on something: they care about this young man and will unite to protect him if they have to. Even if they wind up killing each other later. (Much to Tenchi's chagrin.)

I was reminded of the old Shel Silverstein song, about how some kind of help is the kind of help that helping's all about, and some kind of help is the kind of help we can all do without. The "Tenchi" stories understand that very well and spin great humor out of it.

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